This investigation concerns to find a new equation for computing the quantity of seepage through homogenous earth dam with horizontal toe drain. For this purpose the computer program SEEP/W (which is a sub-program of Geo-Studio) was used. The SEEP/W runs were carried out with three different downstream slopes of the dam, three different upstream slopes, three variable horizontal toe drain lengths, three different free boards, three different top widths and three different heights of the dam. For each run the quantity of seepage was determined. The results show that the seepage discharge increased with increasing upstream slope, downstream slope, upstream reservoir water depth and length of horizontal toe drain. Also, the results show that the seepage discharges decreased with increasing the top width of the dam and the height of the free board. Using SEEP/W results with helping a dimensional analysis theory, a new easy and reliable empirical equation for computing seepage discharge through homogenous earth dams with horizontal toe drain was developed. The analysis of the results by Artificial Neural Network (ANN) shows that the length of horizontal toe drain (L) is the more geometrical variable effect on the seepage discharge, while the upstream slope (tanθ) of the earth dam has a little effect.


Since the middle of twentieth century, economists have invested great resources into using statistical evidence to relate macroeconomic theories to the real world, and many new econometric techniques have been employed. In these two volumes, a distinguished group of economic theorists, econometricians, and economic methodologists examine how evidence has been used and how it should be used to understand the real world. Volume 1 focuses on the contribution of econometric techniques to understanding the macroeconomic world. It covers the use of evidence to understand the business cycle, the operation of monetary policy, and economic growth. A further section offers assessments of the overall impact of recent econometric techniques such as cointegration and unit roots. Volume 2 focuses on the labour market and economic policy, with sections covering the IS-LM model, the labour market, new Keynesian macroeconomics, and the use of macroeconomics in official documents (in both the USA and EU). These volumes will be valuable to advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and practitioners for their clear presentation of opposing perspectives on macroeconomics and how evidence should be used. The chapters are complemented by discussion sections revealing the perspectives of other contributors on the methodological issues raised.


Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are the most common class of drugs used to treat a wide variety of diseases for both humans and veterinary animals. Their excess use as veterinary drugs results in contamination of common foods (milk, meat, fish, egg, honey) with these antibiotic molecules and their metabolic products. A simple strategy for their detection in raw milk samples is very essential looking into the widespread use of these antibiotics by various unorganized dairy firms and individual farmers in rural India. Thus, in the present work two common lanthanide compounds; one red emissive Eu-C1 and one green emissive Tb-C2 were tested for quantitative detection of four different fluoroquinoloneantibiotics (Ciprofloxacin (CIP), Enrofloxacin (ENR), Difloxacin (DIF) and Flumequine (FMQ)) through luminescence titration method. The Eu-C1 and Tb-C2 complexes showed turn-off and turn-on luminescence responses respectively on incremental addition of antibiotics in the solution phase with high Ksv values (up to 5 x 103 M-1) and a low detection limit of 25 ppb. A paper-based solid-state test strip impregnated with Eu-C1 complex was also demonstrated to successfully determine the presence of these antibiotics. In parallel, aliquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) based technique was also developed for quantification followed by validation of the detection efficiency using the above lanthanide probes. The concentration dependent intensity graph with standard samples showed good linear regression fitting (R2~0.99) and detection limit of 1 ppb with recovery efficiency 90 to 105% from spiked raw milk samples.


This thesis sets out to research, study and design a mobile, hybrid, performative architecture that can be adapted to different locations on LeBreton Flats, a site in central Ottawa adjacent to the Canadian War Museum. Research will be based on analyses of past theatre traditions, and the current urban design proposals for LeBreton Flats, while considering the heritage and historical context of the site, its landmarks and transportation networks. The proposed ephemeral architecture a space box will accommodate different modes of performance meant to engage with new and existing outdoor performance and gathering spaces, integrated within the redefined landscape. The site is known to have many historical layers and memories recorded by historical, geological, political and social artifacts and documents. These have been researched and recoded in "An Acre of Time", a book by Phill Jenkins that inspired the conceptual narrative of the seven Acts in this thesis proposal.


THE role of G proteins in glucose uptake was investigated using C6 glioma cells. Carbachol (an agonist acting via G protein coupled receptors) and 5′-guanylylimido diphosphate (Gpp(NH)p; a nonhydrolysable guanine nucleotide analog which bypasses the receptors and directly activates G proteins) stimulated [3H]2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) uptake by C6 cells, suggesting that hexose uptake is a G protein-mediated process. To identify the G protein involved in glucose uptake by C6 cells, the effect of carbachol on 2DG uptake was examined in the presence of pertussis toxin. Pertussis toxin treatment did not alter the ability of C6 cells to respond to carbachol, ruling out the involvement of Giα in 2DG uptake. C6 cells were transfected with Gqα or GLUT1 cDNA for 48 h, exposed to 1 mM carbachol for 2 h, and processed for 2DG uptake. Carbachol stimulated 2DG uptake in both Gqα and GLUT1-transfected cells. Gpp(NH)p, also stimulated 2DG uptake in Gqα and GLUT1-transfected cells. These results suggest that muscarinic receptor coupling to Gqα regulates hexose uptake in C6 cells.


Objective: Bone marrow biopsy is an essential component in the diagnosis of hematopoietic disorders. Researchers evaluated the quality of bone marrow biopsy tissue acquired with a motorized bone marrow biopsy device versus a standard manual device based on the following criteria: biopsy length, percentage of aspiration artifact/intrastromal hemorrhage, length of nonhematopoietic bone, and overall quality of the sample. Methods: Bone marrow biopsies (motorized, n = 30; manual, n = 120) from two academic medical centers were evaluated by two board-certified hematopathologists. For each specimen, the following parameters were recorded: biopsy length (cm), aspiration artifact (assessed in intervals of ≤10%, 11%–25%, 26%–50%, 51%–75%, and >75%), length (cm) of nonhematopoietic biopsy (e.g., cortical bone and skin), and overall quality of sample (inadequate, suboptimal, adequate, and excellent). Results: Operators from two centers included physicians and nurse practitioners. The manual system was superior to the powered drill with respect to the amount of crush artifact (0.15 cm ± 0.01 vs. 0.24 cm ± 0.04, P = 0.01 [t-test]). There was a trend toward less aspiration artifact/intrastromal hemorrhage with the use of the manual biopsy; however, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.06). There was no statistically significant difference in the overall biopsy size, biopsy length, amount of nonhematopoietic elements, and overall adequacy of the sample. Conclusions: There was no significant difference in the biopsy length, amount of nonhematopoietic elements, and overall adequacy of the sample. Results suggest that the manual bone marrow biopsy device has significantly less crush artifact of the specimen and has a trend toward less aspiration artifact/intrastromal hemorrhage as well.


Aims: Investigating the different psychological aspects and the life quality of navy forces is important for improving their military power and efficiency and therefore improving the military power. The aim of this study was determining the psychological effects of long term naval missions on the family members of the Iranian Navy staff. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in 2011, on 20 military families residing in one of the towns of the navy's 1st area in Bandar-Abbas city and had at least experienced three naval missions. Then the occupational history, life biography, marriage status, the number of children and the history of psychological hurt due to job conditions and war missions were investigated based on free interviews. Questions were designed based on ENRICH Inventory, the Occupational Stress Questionnaire and the job satisfaction questionnaire. Results: The remaining psychological effects of long term missions on families were correlated with age, education level, marriage age and the number of children, job experiences, military responsibility, mission location and duration and the possibility of fighting adversaries. Having a positive view about the necessity of missions was an important factor in tolerating problems. Conclusion: Understanding the psychological effects of naval missions would result in finding appropriate solutions such as teaching life skills with the aim of lowering and preventing these effects.


This paper gives an introduction of the simulation of ultra-high-speed drilling on the copper of printed circuit board (PCB) by using finite element method (FEM). The cutting force, cutting torque and the distribution of cutting temperature are predicted. The value of cutting force is also be compared with the experimental value. The simulation results show that the experimental value of cutting force agrees well with the FEM value and the value of cutting torque is very small in the drilling process , in addition,the maximum temperature of copper comes up to 209 °C in center area and the temperature of copper chip evacuation from the spiral groove ranges from 135°C to 155 °C.


Two recent Australian cases have placed the commanding role of DNA evidence in contemporary criminal trials under close scrutiny. In one, the latest entry in the national catalogue of miscarriages of justice, an inquiry found: 'The DNA evidence was, like Ozymandias' broken statue in the poem by Shelley, found isolated in a vast desert. And like the inscription on the statue's pedestal, everything around it belied the truth of its assertion. The statue, of course, would be seen by any reasonably perceptive observer, and viewed in its surroundings, as a shattered monument to an arrogance that now mocked itself. By contrast, the DNA evidence appears to have been viewed as possessing an almost mystical infallibility that enabled its surroundings to be disregarded.' In the other, all too briefly engaging the attention of the nation's top court, the defendant submitted: 'It is the basic contention of the applicant that the conviction was unsafe because the only evidence against him was DNA evidence. We submit that in principle he should not have been convicted on DNA evidence alone, but particularly in the facts of this case where there was additional evidence which was in part exculpatory he should not have been convicted.' In short, the cases raise the question: is a trial based solely on DNA evidence a fair one? This paper uses the two Australian cases in order to explain why the question of the fairness of DNA-only hearings is not only important, but also subtle and difficult. It first describes the nature of each hearing and the response to problems that arose or were said to arise in them. In each case, it develops an alternative argument that a common flaw in such cases is the absence of evidence of the origins of the DNA match. This complex category of evidence, often vital but nearly always dangerous, signals a fraught future for DNA-focussed hearings.


A full-scale five-story reinforced concrete building specimen, outfitted with a variety of nonstructural components and systems (NCSs), was built and tested on the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation at the University of California, San Diego (NEES–UCSD) large outdoor shake table in the period March 2011–June 2012. The building specimen was subjected to a sequence of dynamic tests including scaled and unscaled earthquake motions. A detailed three-dimensional nonlinear finite-element (FE) model of the structure was developed and used for pretest response simulations to predict the seismic response of the test specimen and for decision support in defining the seismic test protocol and selecting the instrumentation layout for both the structure and NCSs. This paper introduces the building specimen and the shake table test protocol and describes the techniques used for the nonlinear FE modeling and response simulation. Utilized as blind prediction, the pretest simulation results at different scales (global structural level and local member/section/fiber levels) are compared with their experimental counterparts for seismic input (base excitation) of increasing intensity from serviceability to design levels. The predictive capabilities of the used FE modeling techniques are evaluated and possible sources of discrepancies between the FE predictions and experimental measurements are investigated and discussed.


Motivation is a factor that encourages a person to perform a specific activity. Work motivation is very important in improving performance, because it affects the productivity of employees. This is done so that employees have a high motivation to achieve corporate goals. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence employee motivation in the production of PT Tokai Rika Indonesia. In this study, data collection techniques used were observation, questionnaire and literature, as well as the primary and secondary data collection. The analysis technique used is quantitative data with descriptive analysis. Based on the results of questionnaires that have been done, it can be concluded that the statement of 11 variables grouped into 4 variable based on the average score. Variable 1 (salaries and working conditions) is the highest factor affecting employee motivation part production with an average score of 12 to 12,75 and variable 4 (achievement and a job guarantee) with an average score of 7,1 to 7,4 is the lowest variable that affects employee motivation than the variable production of 1,2,3 even though employees are still agree with a given statement. Saran, preferably accomplishment and job security needs more attention, the leadership needs to give rewards to employees who have good achievements in achieving production targets, need to guarantee a clear karier and give more opportunities to develop their potential.
n
Keywords: performance, work motivation, employees


Exercise and physical labor in extreme environmental conditions causes transient decreases in immune cell and cytokine concentrations, likely increasing the susceptibility to opportunistic infection. Baker's yeast beta glucan (BYBG) has been previously demonstrated to be an effective countermeasure in athletes, but its effectiveness in individuals of average fitness under similar physical stress is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine if 10 days of oral supplementation with BYBG could modify previously observed suppression of monocytes, T cells, circulating and whole blood LPS-stimulated cytokines due to strenuous exercise. Venous blood samples were collected from 109 healthy volunteers prior to, immediately after, 2 and 4 h post-exercise. Monocyte and T cell concentration, cell-surface receptor expression and serum and LPS-stimulated cytokines were assessed. BYBG significantly (P < 0.05) altered total and classic monocyte concentration and expression of CD38, CD80, CD86, TLR2, and TLR4 on monocyte subsets. BYBG also significantly increased CD4+ and CD8+ T cell concentration and the exercise response of CCR7+/CD45RA- central memory (TCM) cells. Likewise, BYBG significantly (P < 0.05) altered serum IFN-γ and IL-2, and LPS-stimulated IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-7. Taken together these data support the hypothesis that oral BYBG supplementation modulates the expected exercise response for individuals of average fitness. This may result in a decrease in susceptibility to opportunistic infections after strenuous exercise.


As one of the Vs defining Big Data, data velocity brings many new challenges to traditional data processing approaches. The adoption of cloud environments in complex event processing (CEP) systems is a recent architectural style that aims to overcome these challenges. Validating cloud-based CEP systems at the required Big Data scale, however, is often a laborious, error-prone, and expensive task. This article presents CEPSim, a new simulator that has been developed to facilitate this validation process. CEPSim extends CloudSim, an existing cloud simulator, with an application model based on directed acyclic graphs that is used to represent continuous CEP queries. Once defined, the queries can be simulated in different cloud environments under diverse load conditions. Moreover, CEPSim is also customizable with different operator placement and scheduling strategies. These features enable researchers and system architects to experiment with different configurations and strategies and to promote research in this field. Experimental results show that CEPSim can successfully simulate existing cloud-based CEP systems.


This paper describes a research investigation to access the feasibility of using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) method to predict and detect faults at an early stage in power systems. An AI based detector has been developed to monitor and predict faults at an early stage on particular sections of power systems. The detector for this early warning fault detection device only requires external measurements taken from the input and output nodes of the power system. The AI detection system is capable of rapidly predicting a malfunction within the system. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are being used as the core of the fault detector. A simulated medium length transmission line has been tested by the detector and the results demonstrate the capability of the detector. Furthermore, comments on an evolutionary technique as the optimisation strategy for ANNs are included in this paper.


Diabetic macular edema (DME) is one of the most common eye complication caused by diabetes mellitus, resulting in partial or total loss of vision. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) volumes have been widely used to diagnose different eye diseases, thanks to their sensitivity to represent small amounts of fluid, thickness between layers and swelling. However, the lack of tools for automatic image analysis for supporting disease diagnosis is still a problem. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have shown outstanding performance when applied to several medical images analysis tasks. This paper presents a model, OCT-NET, based on a CNN for the automatic classification of OCT volumes. The model was evaluated on a dataset of OCT volumes for DME diagnosis using a leave-one-out cross-validation strategy obtaining an accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 93.75%.


The death of a 17-year-old patient caused by hypokalemia-induced arrhythmia illustrates the tragic dangers of the current paranoid preoccupation, particularly of young women, with physical beauty and low body weight. This case also reminds the reader that modern textbooks are not always sufficiently reliable. An intellectual approach how to circumvent diagnostic misinterpretation even in the context of misleading textbook information is proposed.


Forty-seven fusidic acid- and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from clinical samples in four hospitals in Kuwait were studied for their relatedness by biotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and for the genetic location of their resistance determinants. Forty-four isolates were resistant to gentamicin, kanamycin and neomycin. Forty-one isolates were resistant to erythromycin and trimethoprim, 10 were resistant to chloramphenicol and four were resistant to ciprofloxacin. They contained two or three plasmids of c. 28, 2.8 and 1.8 kb. Genetic studies demonstrated that resistance to cadmium, propamidine isethionate and ethidium bromide were linked and were carried on the c. 28-kb plasmid. Chloramphenicol resistance was encoded by the 2.8-kb plasmid in resistant isolates. No resistance was associated with the 1.8-kb plasmid and this was considered to be a cryptic plasmid. Resistance to fusidic acid, methicillin, benzylpenicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, neomycin, tetracycline, trimethoprim, erythromycin and ciprofloxacin were located on the chromosome. All the isolates produced urease, but varied in the production of haemolysins, pigments, lipase and lecithinase and were classified into nine biotypes. In contrast, PFGE divided the isolates into two major patterns with one PFGE type constituting the majority of isolates in all four hospitals. The presence of the dominant PFGE pattern in all four hospitals suggests that it is an epidemic MRSA clone with the capacity to spread. Infection control measures should be directed towards restricting the further spread of this clone.


Models of response to applied N can be useful for deriving improved N dose recommendations. Here we show how response model parameters can be estimated and how model predictions and model N dose recommendations can be evaluated. For parameter estimation, we use a statistical approach based on random parameter models. Two methods for evaluating models are applied. The first method is to calculate mean squared error of prediction (MSEP) by cross validation, and the second is to perform nonparametric regressions to evaluate the profitability of calculated optimal N rates. The proposed methods are used with a data set consisting of 37 winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) experiments. Different functions taking into account end-of-winter mineral soil N are evaluated. The results show that the different functions all have similar MSEP values for predictions of yield and grain protein content and lead to N recommendations of similar profitability. However, there are substantial differences in MSEP for residual mineral N at harvest. One of these models is then compared with a model that does not include any site-year characteristic and with a model that does not have random parameters. We find that using the model without a site-year characteristic leads to predictions that are less accurate and optimal N rates that are less profitable by F 17 to F 105 ha -1 . Another result is that the gross margin obtained with the optimal N rates calculated using the model without random parameters is lower by F 438 to F 550 ha -1 .


Demand for agricultural products in Indonesia increases in response to Indonesia's high population growth. With more limited agricultural land, agricultural productivity can be increased by the addition of fertilizer. Biofertilizer is currently popular fertilizer and can become a solution to increase productivity of agricultural products in limited land. PT PHN is a new company established in 2015 and produces biofertilizer under the brand XYZ . This research was conducted to analyze consumer perception of biofertilizer and XYZ fertilizer. The company tries to understand customer's problems and provides solutions with customer development model (CDM) method. Understanding and solution to the problem were then used as revision of the company's business model with business model canvas (BMC) approach. Primary and secondary data were used in this research. Primary data were obtained by observation and interview using several respondents. Secondary data were obtained from PT PHN staffs, BPS, and other sources related to this research. The results show that consumers do not have enough understanding about biofertilizer. XYZ fertilizer improves agricultural productivity but has some obstacles in its use. The business model of PT PHN is updated with some additions and subtractions by considering the CDM results. Keywords: BMC, business model, CDM, strategy, customer discovery


We consider networks, trained via stochastic gradient descent to minimize $\ell_2$ loss, with the training labels perturbed by independent noise at each iteration. We characterize the behavior of the training dynamics near any parameter vector that achieves zero training error, in terms of an implicit regularization term corresponding to the sum over the data points, of the squared $\ell_2$ norm of the gradient of the model with respect to the parameter vector, evaluated at each data point. This holds for networks of any connectivity, width, depth, and choice of activation function. We interpret this implicit regularization term for three simple settings: matrix sensing, two layer ReLU networks trained on one-dimensional data, and two layer networks with sigmoid activations trained on a single datapoint. For these settings, we show why this new and general implicit regularization effect drives the networks towards "simple" models.


Swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) plays a central role in controlling the immune response by discriminating self and foreign antigens and initiating an immune response. Studies on SLA polymorphism have demonstrated associations between SLA allelic variants, immune response, and disease resistance. The SLA polymorphism is due to host-pathogen co-evolution resulting in improved adaptation to diverse environments making SLA a crucial genomic region for comparative diversity studies. Although locally-adapted African pigs have small body sizes, they possess increased resilience under harsh environmental conditions and robust immune systems with reported tolerance to some diseases, including African swine fever. However, data on the SLA diversity in these pigs are not available. We characterized the SLA of unrelated locally-adapted domestic pigs from Homa Bay, Kenya, alongside exotic pigs and warthogs. We undertook SLA comparative diversity of the functionally expressed SLA class I (SLA-1, SLA-2) and II (DQB1) repertoires in these three suids using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) sequence-based typing (SBT) method. Our data revealed higher genetic diversity in the locally-adapted pigs and warthogs compared to the exotic pigs. The nucleotide substitution rates were higher in the peptide-binding regions of the SLA-1, SLA-2, and DQB1 loci, indicative of adaptive evolution. We obtained high allele frequencies in the three SLA loci, including some breed-specific private alleles, which could guide breeders to increase their frequency through selection if confirmed to be associated with enhanced resilience. Our study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on genetic diversity in free-ranging animal populations in their natural environment, availing the first DQB1 gene data from locally-adapted Kenyan pigs.


Eukaryotic cells extend a variety of surface protrusions to direct cell motility. Formation of protrusions is mediated by coordinated actions between the plasma membrane and the underlying actin cytoskeleton. Here, we found that the single calponin homology (CH) domain-containing protein CHDP-1 induces the formation of cell protrusions in C. elegans. CHDP-1 is anchored to the cortex through its amphipathic helix. CHDP-1 associates through its CH domain with the small GTPase Rac1/CED-10, which is a key regulator of the actin cytoskeleton. CHDP-1 preferentially binds to the GTP-bound active form of the CED-10 protein and preserves the membrane localization of GTP-CED-10. Hence, by coupling membrane expansion to Rac1-mediated actin dynamics, CHDP-1 promotes the formation of cellular protrusions in vivo.


Microfabricated magnetic MEMS components such as permanent micromagnets and soft magnetic structures are key enablers in various lumped and distributed systems such as energy harvesters, magnetometers, biomagnetic filters, and electromagnetic micromotors. The unique functionalities of such systems often require designers to controllably scale the relevant dimensions of a device relative to the characteristic length of a targeted application. We demonstrate in this dissertation that the developed Microlamination Technology could create two-dimensional uniformor dualheight monolithic metallic structures with additional deterministic structural and compositional complexities along thickness direction, suitable to facilely and flexibly fabricate both lumped and distributed magnetic MEMS systems at a designer's will. The utility of the Microlamination Technology is further validated through the realization of two exemplary systems based on this technology: (i) A lumped system of laminated permanent micromagnets. Microfabricated permanent magnets possessing a multilayer structure enabled by the Microlamination Technology that preserves the high energy density of thinner magnetic films, while simultaneously reducing average residual stress of the films and achieving a significant thickness are presented. The key to retain the superior magnetic properties of thin films in thick laminations is the low interface roughness between the layers, which in turn improves the coercivity of the micromagnets. (ii) A distributed system of a bi-stable vertical magnetic actuator with non-contact latching. The utilization of the Microlamination Technology translates the structural periodicity (multilayer) into magnetic-field-pattern periodicity, which in turn enables the bi-stability of the microsystem and leads to the defined latching behavior. The latching mechanism is solely based on the magneto-static interaction without the need of a mechanical stop. No external energy is needed in the latching positions. This vertical bi-stable actuator could have potential applications as valves in micro-fluidic controls, and as integral parts of micro-mirrors in optical applications. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Electrical & Systems Engineering First Advisor Mark G. Allen This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2965


This paper proposes a walker system with power assistance device for standing up motion. Our system focuses on family use for aged person who needs nursing in their daily life. Our key ideas are two topics. The first topic is new assistance manipulator mechanism with four parallel linkages. Our proposed manipulator mechanism requires only smaller actuators and realizes rigid structure with lighter linkages comparing with general manipulator. Thus, we can design our assistance system compactly with low-cost using our mechanism. The second topic is the combination of force and position control. According to the patientpsilas posture during standing up, our control system selects more appropriate control method from them. We use the reference of standing-up motion which is based on the typical standing up motion by nursing specialist for realizing the natural assistance. The performance of our proposed assistance system is verified by computer simulations and experiments using our prototype.


Rewetted, previously drained fens often remain sources rather than sinks for carbon and nutrients. To date, it is poorly understood which soil characteristics stimulate carbon and nutrient mobilization upon rewetting. Here, we assess the hypothesis that a large pool of iron in the soil negatively affects fen restoration success, as flooding-induced iron reduction (Fe3+ to Fe2+) causes a disproportionate breakdown of organic matter that is coupled with a release of inorganic compounds. We collected intact soil cores in two iron-poor and two iron-rich drained fens, half of which were subjected to a rewetting treatment while the other half was kept drained. Prolonged drainage led to the mobilization of nitrate (NO3-, > 1 mmol L-1) in all cores, regardless of soil iron content. In the rewetted iron-rich cores, a sharp increase in pore water iron (Fe) concentrations correlated with concentrations of inorganic carbon (TIC, > 13 mmol L-1) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC, > 16 mmol L-1). Additionally, ammonium (NH4+) accumulated up to phytotoxic concentrations of 1 mmol L-1 in the pore water of the rewetted iron-rich cores. Disproportionate mobilization of Fe, TIC, DOC and NH4+ was absent in the rewetted iron-poor cores, indicating a strong interaction between waterlogging and iron-mediated breakdown of organic matter. Concentrations of dissolved phosphorus (P) rose slightly in all cores upon rewetting, but remained low throughout the experiment. Our results suggest that large pools of iron in the top soil of drained fens can hamper the restoration of the fen's sink-service for ammonium and carbon upon rewetting. We argue that negative effects of iron should be most apparent in fens with fluctuating water levels, as temporary oxygenation allows frequent regeneration of Fe3+. We conclude that rewetting of iron-poor fens may be more feasible for restoration.


: Purpose: Our study aimed to compare objective factors increasing discrimination and subjective feelings of seniors about discrimination. Additionally, we have attempted to indicate whether the elderly is discriminated against and to what extent they report such situations. Design/Methodology/Approach: The linear ordering by Hellwig's method was used to construct Taxonomic Measure of Preventing Exclusion (TMPEi) and synthetic measures for finding the level of discrimination perception by seniors. Eurostat data was used to construct the TMPEi and Special Eurobarometer data to learn about senior subjective assessment of discrimination. Findings: The construction of an additional taxonomic measure allowed for determining a negative relationship between the level of socio-economic development of a given country and the risk of discrimination. Comparing the EU countries' classification based on the obtained values with the results of the classification made based on the TMPEi allowed to check whether the lower risk of exclusion results in less discriminatory behavior and whether it influences seniors' better assessments in terms of the discrimination they observe. Practical Implications: As a result, the possibility of applying for an institutional response of the European Union countries to the problems identified by seniors reflecting discrimination against citizens was assumed. Seniors constitute a growing social group. For this reason, they will have an increasing impact not only on social policy but also on product and service markets and, by participating in elections, they will decide who will run the countries. Originality/Value: Because implementing strategic goals is usually controlled at the level of measurable indicators, the undertaken research constitutes an innovative approach to evaluating the implementation level of the Europe 2020 strategy. Our study is unique and fills the gap in researching the subjective assessment of seniors against discrimination.


Traditionally, hosts have tended to assign relatively few network addresses to an interface for extended periods. Encouraged by the new abundance of addressing possibilities provided by IPv6, we propose a new method, called Transient Addressing for Related Processes (TARP), whereby hosts temporarily employ and subsequently discard IPv6 addresses in servicing a client host's network requests. The method provides certain security advantages and neatly finesses some well-known firewall problems caused by dynamic port negotiation used in a variety of application protocols. A prototype implementation exists as a small set of kame/BSD kernel enhancements and allows socket programmers and applications nearly transparent access to TARP addressing's advantages.


The classification of the line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals is one of the major problems for robust GNSS positioning and the shadow matching in urban environments. The existing techniques include the multi-sensor integration, 3D map aid, using a dual-polarized antenna, an omnidirectional camera aid are proposed to solve the classification problem. However, they all require external hardware or up-to-date map, which is expensive or impractical for mass-market applications. Consistency checking with the receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM) is widely used for the detection of NLOS signals, but it is efficient only when the majority of the received signals are LOS signals. Machine learning methods, including the decision tree, the support vector machine (SVM) have been explored to classify LOS and NLOS with good accuracy. However, all current machine learning based method only utilize information within one epoch, all the inter-epoch information and data features in time series are lost, and the information of signal propagation in the complex urban environments is not fully manifested in the Rinex level observation and NMEA level observations in one single epoch. In this paper, a multivariate Long Short Term Memory Fully Convolutional Network (MLSTM-FCN) based signal classification method is proposed. With the aid of the convolution layer and long short term memory block, this method handles the data features in both time domain and value domain. Six time series features of GNSS signal, including differenced C/N0, time differenced ambiguity, double difference phase and pseudorange, phase and pseudorange consistency are analyzed and used as the input of the MLSTM-FCN. Datasets from two locations in the urban Calgary are collected, each of which is used for training and testing purposes respectively. The results reveal that, compared to the SVM classification method, the overall testing accuracy of the newly proposed classifier is improved from 93.00% to 95.97% for the Rinex level observation, and from 92.99% to 93.83 for the NMEA level observation. This improved classification accuracy brought by the proposed classifier is encouraging since it will enhance the robustness of the conventional GNSS positioning and the shadow matching based navigation system by reducing unbounded NLOS signal errors in urban environments and result in significant improvement in positioning accuracy. Compared to the SVM classifier aided single point positioning (SPP) test, the accuracy in the form of RMS of the MLSTM-FCN aided SPP test can be improved by 24.3%, 17.8% and 24.4% in the East, North and Up directions respectively, and the rate of the valid solution can be increased from 99.02% to 99.94%. The new method has the potential to be widely applied by various receiver types with the output of the raw observation or only with the NMEA observations output.


Effective doctor-to-patient communication is an essential component of health care which is difficult due to the complicated nature of ocular anomalies. Glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are two very common causes of decreased vision among adults older than 55 years. This thesis outlines the steps in composition and printing of patient-education brochures which can be used to supplement the practitioner's description of the diseases. The brochures contain concise, descriptive statements combined with simple illustrations and are printed with large easy-to-read print, in both English and Spanish. They explain the nature, pathogenesis, treatment, and prognosis of Glaucoma and AM D.


Abstract Ecological niche modeling, a new methodology for predicting the geographic course of species' invasions, was tested based on four invasive plant species (garlic mustard, sericea lespedeza, Russian olive, and hydrilla) in North America. Models of ecological niches and geographic distributions on native distributional areas (Europe and Asia) were highly statistically significant. Projections for each species to North America—effectively predictions of invasive potential—were highly coincident with areas of known invasions. Hence, in each case, the geographic invasive potential was well summarized in a predictive sense; this methodology holds promise for development of control and eradication strategies and for risk assessment for species' invasions. Nomenclature: Hydrilla, Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle HYLLI; Russian olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia L. ELGAN; sericea lespedeza, Lespedeza cuneata (Dum.-Cours.) G. Don LESCU; garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata (Bieb) Cavara & Grande ALAPE.


In this paper propose a new approach to the problem of aggregating rankings for obtaining an overall ranking. This is also referred to as the aggregation ranking in the personnel selection problem. Our approach is based on a distance measure between the individual and the overall ranking, and looks for the solution that minimizes the disagreement between the input rankings and the resulting aggregation. The method uses a reinforcement learning approach to build the aggregation and its performance and comparison with other approaches shows promising results.


Background . Nurses are intricately involved in organ donation; however, the referral of donors appears to be declining in Johannesburg, South Africa (SA). This may be due to barriers in the referral process. Objectives . The objectives of this study were to explore nurses' knowledge of the organ donation process and to explore personal beliefs and attitudes around organ donation. Methods . A quantitative, self-administered questionnaire was completed by nurses in Johannesburg, SA. Results. A total of 273 nurses participated, of whom most were female and <50 years old. The majority of participants (64.2%) reported positive attitudes, and 63.2% stated that their personal beliefs about organ donation did not influence the advice they gave to patients. However, only 36.8% felt confident referring potential donors and 35.8% felt that referral was within their scope of practice. Most participants (84.5%) felt that it was the doctor's responsibility to refer donors, but 80.3% noted that they would refer donors themselves if there was a mandatory referral protocol. Only 61% of nurses were aware that there was access to a transplant procurement coordinator through their hospitals; however, there was uncertainty regarding the role of the coordinator. Conclusion . There is an urgent need to clarify the role of nurses in the process of organ donor referral in SA. Although nurses felt positive about organ donation, they expressed uncertainties about referring potential donors. However, if a clear protocol for referral was introduced, the majority of nurses noted that they would willingly follow it. We advocate for the development and implementation of a nationally endorsed protocol for donor referral and for the training of nurses in organ donation in SA.


Brugada Syndrome and Brugada type 1 ECG pattern (BrS type 1 ECG) are currently used as synonyms. However, in the vast majority of cases, BrS type 1 ECG is a benign finding, and only few patients with this pattern have a Brugada Syndrome; that is to say, they present with, or are prone to, malignant arrhythmias.
Brugada Syndrome, when defined only on the basis of the BrS type 1 ECG, has several characteristics which conflict with those of other channellopathies such as Long-QT syndrome (LQTS). For example, there is no correlation between the magnitude of ECG anomalies and prognosis, and a genetic defect is rarely recognized. In addition, patients with malignant arrhythmias in prospective and retrospective studies have different characteristics. Indeed, prospective studies have identified a number of risk factors which are useful (singly or in combination) in identifying patients who will present with malignant arrhythmias: spontaneous BrS type 1 ECG, syncope of presumed cardiac origin, familial juvenile SD (Sudden Death), positive Electrophysiology Studies (EPS) etc. By contrast, in retrospective studies, subjects with aborted SD in whom a BrS type 1 ECG has been identified after the potentially catastrophic event generally have no major risk factors, and 40% of them have a drug-induced BrS type 1. In other words, they are theoretically not at risk. In these latter cases, a spontaneous question arises: was a Brugada syndrome really the cause of cardiac arrest, or might the BrS type1 ECG have been a by-stander sign?
In conclusion, in Brugada syndrome, too many questions remain unanswered. In our opinion, Brugada Syndrome is an entity which needs to be re-defined on the basis of more scientific information, which is, as yet, partially lacking. In any case, the diagnosis of Brugada Syndrome should not be made only on the basis of a BrS type 1 ECG pattern.


The transport of live fish is a routine practice in aquaculture and constitutes a considerable source of stress to the animals. The addition of anesthetic to the water used for fish transport can prevent or mitigate the deleterious effects of transport stress. This study investigated the effects of the addition of eugenol (EUG) (1.5 or 3.0 μL L–1) and essential oil of Lippia alba (EOL) (10 or 20 μL L–1) on metabolic parameters (glycogen, lactate and total protein levels) in liver and muscle, acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) in muscle and brain, and the levels of protein carbonyl (PC), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and nonprotein thiol groups (NPSH) and activity of glutathione-S-transferase in the liver of silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen; Quoy and Gaimard, 1824) transported for four hours in plastic bags (loading density of 169.2 g L–1). The addition of various concentrations of EUG (1.5 or 3.0 μL L–1) and EOL (10 or 20 μL L–1) to the transport water is advisable for the transportation of silver catfish, since both concentrations of these substances increased the levels of NPSH antioxidant and decreased the TBARS levels in the liver. In addition, the lower liver levels of glycogen and lactate in these groups and lower AChE activity in the brain (EOL 10 or 20 μL L–1) compared to the control group indicate that the energetic metabolism and neurotransmission were lower after administration of anesthetics, contributing to the maintenance of homeostasis and sedation status.


In the ever-increasing pace of technological development and the emergence of new stateless adversaries and threat vectors, the traditional NATO approach to the technical capability development struggles to address the emerging security challenges in cyberspace. In order to mitigate this situation, we describe an incubator framework, which provides a physical and virtual environment enabling industry, in particular small and medium sized enterprises, science and technology organizations, academia, and national defence labs, to collaborate on innovation projects on the basis of either voluntary, nationally funded, or NATO commonly funded contributions. The proposed incubator framework has been practically validated and technical results have confirmed the feasibility as well as the benefits of setting up a cyber incubator within NATO. This disruptive approach to capability development requires the updating of several internal processes and procedures and the adoption of a new innovation-friendly and risk-tolerant organizational culture within the Organization. We describe the main lessons learned from our experiment and the recommendations regarding required changes to the internal and external NATO processes and procedures.


Background
Amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) imaging has been revealed to hold great potential in the diagnosis of several brain diseases. The purpose of this proof-of-concept study was to evaluate the feasibility and value of APTw magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in characterizing normal brain aging.

Methods
A total of 106 healthy subjects were recruited and scanned at 3.0 Tesla, with APTw and conventional magnetization transfer (MT) sequences. Quantitative image analyses were performed in 12 regions of interest (ROIs) for each subject. The APTw or MT ratio (MTR) signal differences among five age groups (young, mature, middle-aged, young-old, and middle-old) were assessed using the one-way analysis of variance, with the Benjamini-Hochberg correction for multiple comparisons. The relationship between APTw and MTR signals and the age dependencies of APTw and MTR signals were assessed using the Pearson correlation and non-linear regression.

Results
There were no significant differences between the APTw or MTR values for males and females in any of the 12 ROIs analyzed. Among the five age groups, there were significant differences in the three white matter regions in the temporal, occipital, and frontal lobes. Overall, the mean APTw values in the older group were higher than those in the younger group. Positive correlations were observed in relation to age in most brain regions, including four with significant positive correlations (r=0.2065-0.4182) and five with increasing trends. As a comparison, the mean MTR values did not appear to be significantly different among the five age groups. In addition, the mean APTw and MTR values revealed significant positive correlations in 10 ROIs (r=0.2214-0.7269) and a significant negative correlation in one ROI (entorhinal cortex, r=-0.2141).

Conclusions
Our early results show that the APTw signal can be used as a promising and complementary imaging biomarker with which normal brain aging can be evaluated at the molecular level.


Radionuclides are often used in the field of nuclear medicine. For some deceases the use of radionuclides is the best possible care, or even the only means of diagnosis or treatment. For these medical applications high specific activity (high activity per unit of mass) is required. Commonly, medical radionuclides are man-made. They can either be produced by neutron activation, charged particle or photon activation or by means of radionuclide generator. Furthermore, hospitals prefer an 'on demand' supply. A radionuclide generator is ideal. Radionuclide generators can also be used to produce high specific activity. Conventional radionuclide generators work with the principle that the mother and daughter radionuclide have different electrostatic interactions with the column material. This allows for easy elution of the daughter radionuclide. However, when working with chemical identical mother-daughter radionuclide pairs (e.g. 177mLu / 177Lu) another separation principle is required. Utilising 'hot atom' chemical principles such a mother-daughter pairs can be separated. 'Hot atom' principles describe the chemical effects that occur due to nuclear interactions or due to decay. An example of these effects is bond rupture. The effective range of those principles is rather limited, requiring thin layers. A possible technique to apply these thin layers is atomic layer deposition (ALD). ALD is commonly used in the semi-conductor industry, but can due to its versatility also be used in the field of catalysis or pharmaceutical. The advantage of using ALD is that this gas phase deposition technique allows for thin conformal coating of complex structured materials. Furthermore, the amount of material that can be deposited can easily be adapted to need because ALD is a self-limiting process. In this thesis the usefulness of ALD in combination with radionuclide production is explored. Because of the versatility of ALD it can also be used to create target materials for charged particle activation and enrichment experiments (Chapter 2). This versatility is illustrated by three case studies, namely this production of targets for 64Cu production, the production of 177Lu by means of a radionuclide generator and the production of 99Mo using three different routes. Also described is how ALD can be used to alter the surface chemistry of high surface area materials to increase their adsorption capacity for Mo (Chapter 3). The obtained particles with an alumina coating are then tested for their adsorption capacity and compared to acid activated alumina, the current used material in 99Mo/99mTc-radionuclide generators. The adsorption capacity of the obtained particles is twice that of acid activated alumina and has a 99mTc elution efficiency of 55%. Furthermore, the coating of nano-particles for the development of with Lu coated particles (Chapter 4) for the preparation of a radionuclide generator is described. ALD allows for a deposition of up to 15w% Lu. Furthermore, the gamma dose received during neutron activation has an influence on the specific activity produced (Chapter 5). Using Cu(II)-phthalocyanine as a target it is shown that an increase in gamma dose during neutron activation results in an increase in Cu release and hence a decrease in specific activity obtained.


Thermal contact resistances have been measured in an experiment emulating heat transfer from a SiC die to a cooled heat sink through a heat spreader and a DBC structure. The major surface-dependent parameters are the surface roughness, surface hardness, and planarity. The measured thermal contact resistances are in agreement with theoretical values. When investigating DBC copper surfaces a second interface between the bonded Cu to AlN has to be taken into account.


Abstract Clypeasteroid echinoids are a familiar and easily defined clade with a cryptic origin. They first appear in the late Paleocene and are believed to have arisen from cassiduloid ancestry, but identifying sister-group relationships more precisely has proved difficult. Two factors are responsible for this problem, the extreme morphological conservatism of cassiduloids, which has given rise to high levels of character exhaustion, and the origin of crown-group clypeasteroids through paedomorphosis. Previous analyses, based on extant representatives alone or including all Mesozoic to Recent genera, have proved unsatisfactory. Here a parsimony analysis is undertaken using a restricted set of all stem-group clypeasteroids and cassiduloid taxa that existed immediately prior to the appearance of crown-group clypeasteroids. Inclusion of Togocyamus, the fossil taxon lying closest to the origin of crown-group clypeasteroids, is phylogenetically uninformative because that taxon is highly paedomorphic and has only generalized juvenile characteristics. However, earlier stem-group plesions provide critical data that identify Apatopygidae as extant sister group to the Clypeasteroida. Stratigraphically restricted analyses cannot eradicate the problems that arise from character exhaustion, but can minimize these with respect to specific phylogenetic questions.


In few years ROBOTS are going to decree the cosmos. Man supremacy is abridged by replacing robots. In the existing system, human hand movements is sensed by the robot through sensors and it imitates the same, but this is made probable by placing the sensor in the accelerometer and which is to be carried by the person(user's hand). As the person moves his/her hand, the accelerometer also moves accordingly which in turn displaces the sensor and this sensor senses the constraints according to the position of hand and this sensed constraints are given to the sensors placed in robotic arm which makes the movements of robot arm accordingly. Hand gestures and even the intact body posture play a very vital role in human communication. The intention of this paper primarily is to generate a script in vision assistant and real time image through the vision acquisition acquired. The acquired image is to be transformed into digital signal using image processing in Lab VIEW. Interfacing the robot with Lab VIEW is processed through MYRIO. The digital indication of the robot is made to control by several hand gestures and drive the robot in different direction Keywords— Gesture, Lab VIEW, MY RIO, Acquisition.


Recollection of child sexual abuse involves complex issues of agency—both in the past and in the present. Adult women survivors face the further obstacle of ingrained cultural tendencies to question women's testimony. Ambiguity and ambivalence are found in adult women's accounts of their past abuse and present particular dilemmas. Drawing on social remembering approaches developed in memory studies, it is argued that recollections have to negotiate issues of incidence and intentionality in the past as well as the potential contribution made by non-human participants (e.g. objects, spaces, bodies). Using examples from interviews with survivors of child sexual abuse, we illustrate how objects (largely domestic objects and spaces) emerge in the memories as a way of posing and subsequently disposing ambiguity. Objects, as well as humans, 'modify the state of affairs' (Latour, 2005) and serve as the means to punctualize recollected episodes. An analytic approach sensitive to the role of objects in recollection, which is grounded in material-semiotics, is offered.


Aim  Chestnuts (Castanea spp.) are ecologically and economically important species. We studied the general biology, distribution and climatic limits of seven chestnut species from around the world. We provided climatic matching of Asiatic species to North America to assist the range‐wide restoration of American chestnut [C. dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.] by incorporating blight‐resistant genes from Asiatic species.


Community structure and ecosystem processes often vary along elevational gradients. Their responses to elevation are commonly driven by changes in temperature, and many community- and ecosystem-level variables therefore frequently respond similarly to elevation across contrasting gradients. There are also many exceptions, sometimes because other factors such as precipitation can also vary with elevation. Given this complexity, our capacity to predict when and why the same variable responds differently among disparate elevational gradients is often limited. Furthermore, there is utility in using elevational gradients for understanding community and ecosystem responses to global climate change at much larger spatial and temporal scales than is possible through conventional ecological experiments. However, future studies that integrate elevational gradient approaches with experimental manipulations will provide powerful information that can improve predictions of climate change impacts within and across ecosystems.


AIMS
To examine in vivo the effect of ketoconazole on the pharmacokinetics of rosuvastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor.

METHODS
This was a randomized, double-blind, two-way crossover, placebo-controlled trial. Healthy male volunteers (n = 14) received ketoconazole 200 mg or placebo twice daily for 7 days, and rosuvastatin 80 mg was coadministered on day 4 of dosing. Plasma concentrations of rosuvastatin, and active and total HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors were measured up to 96 h postdose.

RESULTS
Following coadministration with ketoconazole, rosuvastatin geometric least square mean AUC(0,t) and Cmax were unchanged compared with placebo (treatment ratios (90% confidence intervals): 1.016 (0.839, 1.230), 0.954 (0.722, 1.260), respectively). Rosuvastatin accounted for essentially all of the circulating active HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors and most (> 85%) of the total inhibitors. Ketoconazole did not affect the proportion of circulating active or total inhibitors accounted for by circulating rosuvastatin.

CONCLUSIONS
Ketoconazole did not produce any change in rosuvastatin pharmacokinetics in healthy subjects. The data suggest that neither cytochrome P450 3A4 nor P-gp-mediated transport contributes to the elimination of rosuvastatin.


We consider a form of media effect involving comparisons between similar events or problems that differ in magnitude along some common dimension. We propose that such comparisons involve "ordinal priming" when they establish a single schema for evaluation and suggest a rank order among two or more cases, as in the statement that the current economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. We explore the direction of opinion shift in ordinal priming using an experiment involving four issues. Results show that, on two of the four issues, comparisons shift opinion about the target issue in the direction of assimilation toward more negative assessment. We find that this effect is contingent on the issue and is moderated by cognitive sophistication.


A growing recent theoretical literature advocates the use of prudential capital control policy, that is, the tightening of restrictions on cross-border capital flows during booms and the relaxation thereof during recessions. We examine the behavior of capital controls in a large number of countries over the period 1995-2011. We find that capital controls are remarkably acyclical. Boom-bust episodes in output, the current account, or the real exchange rate are associated with virtually no movements in capital controls. These results are robust to decomposing boom-bust episodes along a number of dimensions, including the level of development, the level of external indebtedness, or the exchange-rate regime. We also document a near complete acyclicality of capital controls during the Great Contraction of 2007-2009.


A poor understanding of the interactions between biophysical and social elements within rural mountainous landscapes can lead to suboptimal management and recommendations. The objective of this study was to contribute to more contextualized natural resource management in a rural landscape in the Ecuadorian Andes by (1) identifying biophysical patterns in soil properties, biodiversity, and C stocks that emerge from natural landscape pedogenic processes, resulting from elevation-induced climate gradients, erosion and soil textural patterns, and (2) assessing farm management and land-use effects on and their interactions with these biophysical patterns. Our findings revealed that the climate and soil texture gradients within the landscape led to an exponential increase in SOC with elevation moderated by slope gradient, indicating significant erosion processes. Farmers adapted their farm management according to the observed environmental patterns creating three distinct management zones. Differentiated agricultural management in these zones and asymmetrical distribution of land-uses in turn were observed to significantly influence soil and agroecosystem properties. For example, available P was found to be significantly higher in the upper and middle agricultural management zones (24.0 and 28.7 mg/kg, respectively), where agricultural inputs were higher compared to the lower agricultural management zone (8.9 mg/kg, P <0.001). Mixed hedgerows, on the other hand, displayed significantly higher Shannon index scores for ground vegetation (1.8) and soil macrofauna (2.0) compared to agricultural land-uses (1.0 and 1.7). Our results provide important insights into how agroecosystem patterns and land management co-developed through complex environment, management, and land-use interactions.


Herbals and herbaria for scientific purposes have been made from the 16th century. They were private property long before the time of the foundation of most institutional herbaria, in which they are now, as far as they are still intact, preserved. The oldest, when in book-form, are of course kept apart. Those mounted on loose sheets were treated in different ways and were subsequently incorporated and filed in the general herbarium, as for instance those of Van Royen at Leiden, Burman f. at Geneva, R. Brown at the British Museum and the Hooker and Bentham collections at Kew. In other instances they were kept apart and preserved as a separate unit, in view of the fact that they represented the authentic standard works of authorities, for example the herbaria of Jussieu, Lamarck, and Baillon at Paris, that of the DeCandolles at Geneva, and Willdenow at Berlin. For this purpose the Wallich collections at Kew were, in recent years, re-assembled as a separate unit. Except for the Herbarium in Paris, which was founded as early as 1635, other university or national herbaria were founded much later, e.g. that of the British Museum (Natural History) in 1753 (harbouring several famous herbals from Sloane, Petiver, etc.), Copenhagen in 1759, of the University of Cambridge in 1761, Uppsala in 1785, Berlin in 1815, Geneva in 1817 (now comprising the combined herbaria of Delessert and Boissier, and the separate herbarium of the DeCandolles), Petersburg (now Leningrad) in 1823, the Rijksherbarium at Brussels in 1829, and the Herbarium at Kew as late as 1853.


As states, cities, tribes, and private interests cope with climate damages and seek to increase preparedness and resilience, they will need to navigate myriad choices and options available to them. Making these choices in ways that identify pathways for climate action that support their development objectives will require constructive public dialogue, community participation, and flexible and ongoing access to science- and experience-based knowledge. In 2016, a Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) was convened to recommend how to conduct a sustained National Climate Assessment (NCA) to increase the relevance and usability of assessments for informing action. The FAC was disbanded in 2017, but members and additional experts reconvened to complete the report that is presented here. A key recommendation is establishing a new nonfederal "climate assessment consortium" to increase the role of state/local/tribal government and civil society in assessments. The expanded process would 1) focus on applied problems faced by practitioners, 2) organize sustained partnerships for collaborative learning across similar projects and case studies to identify effective tested practices, and 3) assess and improve knowledge-based methods for project implementation. Specific recommendations include evaluating climate models and data using user-defined metrics; improving benefit–cost assessment and supporting decision-making under uncertainty; and accelerating application of tools and methods such as citizen science, artificial intelligence, indicators, and geospatial analysis. The recommendations are the result of broad consultation and present an ambitious agenda for federal agencies, state/local/tribal jurisdictions, universities and the research sector, professional associations, nongovernmental and community-based organizations, and private-sector firms.


In this research, the aluminate spinel type materials, MAl2O4, are synthesised by solution combustion synthesis (SCS) method to investigate the effect of the element (M = Ca and Ba) on their structural, mainly crystallinity and optical properties. The characterisations are examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS). The XRD and FT-IR results showed the formation of the single-phase spinel structure of CaAl2O4 and BaAl2O4. The band gap energy was investigated using the Tauc method, and the obtained values were 3.93 eV and 3.77 eV for CaAl2O4 and BaAl2O4, respectively. The results showed a good agreement with the data as reported in the literature.


Why are risk decisions sometimes rather irrational and biased than rational and effective? Can we educate and train vocational students and professionals in safety and security management to let them make smarter risk decisions? This paper starts with a theoretical and practical analysis. From research literature and theory we develop a two-phase process model of biased risk decision making, focussing on two critical professional competences: risk intelligence and risk skill. Risk intelligence applies to risk analysis on a mainly cognitive level, whereas risk skill covers the application of risk intelligence in the ultimate phase of risk decision making: whether or not a professional risk manager decides to intervene, how and how well. According to both phases of risk analysis and risk decision making the main problems are described and illustrated with examples from safety and security practice. It seems to be all about systematically biased reckoning and reasoning.


The aeroelastic design of highly flexible wings, made of extremely light structures yet still capable of carrying a considerable amount of non-structural weights, requires significant effort. The complexity involved in such design demands for simplified mathematical tools based on appropriate reduced order models capable of predicting the accurate aeroelastic behaviour. The model presented in this paper is based on a consistent nonlinear beam model, capable of simulating the unconventional aeroelastic behaviour of flexible composite wings. The partial differential equations describing the wing dynamics are reduced to a dimensionless form in terms of three ordinary differential equations using a discretization technique, along with Galerkin's method. Within this approach the nonlinear structural model an unsteady indicial based aerodynamic model with dynamic stall are coupled. Only three degrees of freedom in edgewise, flapwise, and torsion, are needed to describe efficiently the dynamics of the wing and to evaluate the sensitivity to system parameters, such as stiffness ratio, aspect ratio, and root angle of attack. Interesting design indicators will be highlighted. In addition to analytical results, a wind tunnel test article will be introduced to assess the validity of the proposed model.


This Sports Law Resources research guide has been designed to assist law students, law faculty and practitioners with topics related to sports law study, research and practice.


Lignans are a group of phytochemicals shown to have weakly estrogenic and antiestrogenic properties. Two specific lignans, enterodiol and enterolactone, are absorbed after formation in the intestinal tract from plant precursors particularly abundant in fiber-rich food and are excreted in the urine. We evaluated the effect of the ingestion of flax seed powder, known to produce high concentrations of urinary lignans, on the menstrual cycle in 18 normally cycling women, using a balanced randomized cross-over design. Each subject consumed her usual omnivorous, low fiber (control) diet for 3 cycles and her usual diet supplemented with flax seed for another 3 cycles. The second and third flax cycles were compared to the second and third control cycles. Three anovulatory cycles occurred during the 36 control cycles, compared to none during the 36 flax seed cycles. Compared to the ovulatory control cycles, the ovulatory flax cycles were consistently associated with longer luteal phase (LP) lengths (mean +/- SEM, 12.6 +/- 0.4 vs. 11.4 +/- 0.4 days; P = 0.002). There were no significant differences between flax and control cycles for concentrations of either estradiol or estrone during the early follicular phase, midfollicular phase, or LP. Although flax seed ingestion had no significant effect on LP progesterone concentrations, the LP progesterone/estradiol ratios were significantly higher during the flax cycles. Midfollicular phase testosterone concentrations were slightly higher during flax cycles. Flax seed ingestion had no effect on early follicular phase concentrations of DHEA-S, PRL, or sex hormone-binding globulin. Our data suggest a significant specific role for lignans in the relationship between diet and sex steroid action, and possibly between diet and the risk of breast and other hormonally dependent cancers.


The integration of heterogeneous in-service training data offers possibilities to manually and automatically draw up new information of professional human resources, which are not available when using only a single data source. Furthermore, it allows for a consistent representation and the propagation of updates from one data set to the others. However, different acquisition methods, data schemata and updating cycles of the content can lead to discrepancies in professions and expertise accuracy and correctness which hamper the combined integration. To overcome these difficulties, appropriate methods for the integration and harmonization of data from different sources and different types are needed. In this study, twenty-five databases were integrated into one national level database. More than 220,000 K--12 teachers' in-service training data were collected through out this heterogeneous databases integrating project. A unified subject-category was introduced based upon both the teaching professions and administration professions so as to absorb all twenty-five sources. The integrated feasibility was evaluated according to the efficiency and correctness.


Arrays are commonly used in relatively narrow band applications. The array design and processing are usually optimized in order to maximize the gain in the look-direction, while minimizing the interference from sources located in other directions (but possibly not far off from the look-direction). This led for instance to the definition of minimum redundancy linear arrays that maximize the resolution for a given number of sensors. This maximization is, however, effective only at the design frequency of the array. For many active applications (such as active sonar or radar), which are narrow band in essence, this limitation is not an issue. However, if the signal to be detected in its entirety has a broadband frequency content, optimizing the performance of the array at a given frequency leads to possibly poor performance at other frequencies. Since optimal performance cannot be achieved at all frequencies simultaneously, one can aim for sub-optimal but useful performance throughout the entire frequency band. One possibility for achieving this is based on the use of a random hydrophone spacing. The effectiveness of the approach is investigated using simulations and is illustrated with experimental data collected using a randomly spaced linear array.


This paper presents an extension of the Hellfire Framework (HFFW), providing an intuitive and powerful web interface to build, test and debug a complete Multiprocessor System-on-Chip (MPSoC). Among the new functionalities presented, it is possible to highlight: i) the architecture builder tool, used to set up all the MPSoC architecture; ii) the possibility to use a Network-on-Chip (NoC) as the communication mean, and; iii) a new simulator, providing a fast and accurate high level Instructions Set Simulator (ISS) with a miss ratio less than 5%. In order to validate the new simulator accuracy several tests were taken, first using traffic generators and then an implementation of the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA). The achieved results are discussed throughout the paper.


The first volume of the proceedings of the 7th conference on "Finite Volumes for Complex Applications" (Berlin, June 2014) covers topics that include convergence and stability analysis, as well as investigations of these methods from the point of view of compatibility with physical principles. It collects together the focused invited papers, as well as the reviewed contributions from internationally leading researchers in the field of analysis of finite volume and related methods. Altogether, a rather comprehensive overview is given of the state of the art in the field. The methods considered in the 7th conference on "Finite Volumes for Complex Applications" (Berlin, June 2014) have properties which offer distinct advantages for a number of applications. The second volume of the proceedings covers reviewed contributions reporting successful applications in the fields of fluid dynamics, magnetohydrodynamics, structural analysis, nuclear physics, semiconductor theory and other topics. The finite volume method in its various forms is a space discretization technique for partial differential equations based on the fundamental physical principle of conservation. Recent decades have brought significant success in the theoretical understanding of the method. Many finite volume methods preserve further qualitative or asymptotic properties, including maximum principles, dissipativity, monotone decay of free energy, and asymptotic stability. Due to these properties, finite volume methods belong to the wider class of compatible discretization methods, which preserve qualitative properties of continuous problems at the discrete level. This structural approach to the discretization of partial differential equations becomes particularly important for multiphysics and multiscale applications. Researchers, PhD and masters level students in numerical analysis, scientific computing and related fields such as partial differential equations will find this volume useful, as will engineers working in numerical modeling and simulations.


Concise synthesis of (±)-Lingzhiol has been achieved. The key reaction involves one-step construction of a 5/5/6/6 tetra-ring backbone of Lingzhiol via epoxy-arene cyclization.


Until recently, research has focused on Clostridium perfringens in clinical settings without considering environmental isolates. In this study, environmental genomes were used to investigate possible antibiotic resistance and the presence of virulence traits in C. perfringens strains from raw surface water. In silico assembly of three C. perfringens strains, DNA generated almost complete genomes setting their length ranging from 3.4 to 3.6 Mbp with GC content of 28.18%. An average of 3,175 open reading frames was identified, with the majority associated with carbohydrate and protein metabolisms. The genomes harboured several antibiotic resistance genes for glycopeptides, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B, β-lactam, trimethoprim, tetracycline and aminoglycosides and also the presence of several genes encoding for polypeptides and multidrug resistance efflux pumps and 35 virulence genes. Some of these encode for haemolysins, sialidase, hyaluronidase, collagenase, perfringolysin O and phospholipase C. All three genomes contained sequences indicating phage, antibiotic resistance and pathogenic islands integration sites. A genomic comparison of these three strains confirmed high similarity and shared core genes with clinical C. perfringens strains, highlighting their health security risks. This study provides a genomic insight into the potential pathogenicity of C. perfringens present in the environment and emphasises the importance of monitoring this niche in the future.


Ni–Co coatings have gained widespread attention due to their potential in replacing hard chromium deposits (which have traditionally utilized toxic and corrosive chromic acid baths). A major challenge is to lower the high coefficient of friction of coated surfaces against steel, under dry sliding conditions. In this research, low friction Ni–Co/WS2 nanocomposite coatings have been prepared by a convenient, one-pot electrodeposition from aqueous Ni–Co plating baths containing WS2 particles. The embedment of the WS2 lubricants is found to reduce the friction coefficient of coating significantly, and an ultra-low friction coefficient of 0.16 is obtained for the coating having a WS2 content of 7.1 wt.%. Morphology and composition characterization of wear tracks reveal that the formation of a WS2-rich lubricating tribofilm on the contact surfaces is beneficial to a low friction coefficient and good oxidation resistance. The wettability of electrodeposited coatings was also investigated. Compared to pure Ni-Co coating, the Ni–Co/7.1 wt.% WS2 coating has an excellent hydrophobicity with a high water contact angle (WCA) of 157◦, due to a rough surface with dual scale protrusions and the low surface energy of WS2.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the safety and tolerance of adjuvant dose-dense chemotherapy with paclitaxel and epirubicin for high-risk breast cancer.

METHODS
From January 2004 to December 2006, 101 patients with high-risk breast cancer after surgical resection were enrolled into this study. The patients were divided into two groups: dose-dense and regular groups. Each patient received 6 cycles of chemotherapy with intravenous administration of paclitaxel (175 mg/m2, on D3) and epirubicin (60 mg/m2, on Dl and D2). The dose-dense group had repeated treatment every two weeks, while the regular group repeated it every three weeks. G-CSF was used in a dose of 3 microg/kg on D5-D9 during each cycle in the dose-dense group. While in the regular group, it was used only under the condition that grade II neutropenia occurred.

RESULTS
The toxicity could be evaluated in 101 patients. Major grade II-IV toxicities included: neutropenia, nausea, vomiting and alopecia. The incidence of grade III-IV neutropenia was 16.0% in the dose-dense group versus 54.9% in the regular group (P = 0.000); postponing of chemotherapy was 2.4% versus 6.0% (P = 0.027). Ninety-eight patients completed the chemotherapy as planed. After a median follow-up of 24 months, the median DFS and OS were not reached. The relapse-free rate and survival rate were 89.8% and 100% in the dose-dense group, which were 87.8% and 93.9% in the regular group. The relapse-free rate of the high-risk patients in the dose-dense group was 86.8% versus 81.3% in the regular group, and the corresponding survival rate was 100% versus 90.6%.

CONCLUSION
Adjuvant dose-dense chemotherapy with paclitaxel and epirubicin is safe, tolerable and promising for high-risk breast cancer.


Purpose: This study compared the language and literacy of two cohorts of children with severe-profound hearing loss, recruited 10 years apart, to determine whether outcomes had improved in line with the introduction of newborn hearing screening and access to improved hearing aid technology. Method: Forty-two deaf children, aged 5 -7 years with a mean unaided loss of 102 DB, were assessed on language, reading and phonological skills. Their performance was compared to that of a similar group of 32 deaf children assessed 10 years earlier, and also a group of 40 hearing children of similar single word reading ability. Results: English vocabulary was significantly higher in the new cohort, although it was still below chronological age. Phonological awareness and reading ability had not significantly changed over time. In both cohorts English vocabulary predicted reading but phonological awareness was only a significant predictor for the new cohort. Conclusions: The current results show that vocabulary knowledge of children with severe-profound hearing loss has improved over time but there has not been a commensurate improvement in phonological skills or reading. They suggest that children with severe-profound hearing loss will require continued support to develop robust phonological coding skills to underpin reading.


Massive emission of multi-pollutants from the utilization of fossil fuels has caused severe environmental problems in past decades. The transport process of multi-pollutant molecules in nano-porous materials is involved, and considered to be one of the most significant processes, in the removal of these pollutants no matter by adsorption or catalysis. However, the mechanism of nano-scale transport is not fully understood due to the complexity in pore structures and diversity in pollutants. This work probes into the application of non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations to study the mass transfer of multi-pollutants at nano-scale. A dual control-volume (DCV) model of titanium-based nanopore is proposed and molecules of NO, NH 3 and SO 2 , which are typical gaseous species in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) process for nitrogen oxides removal, are investigated. Simulations are performed to investigate the influences of temperature, pore width and hydroxyl site on diffusivity of objective molecules. The results show (1) the differential transport of NO, NH 3 and SO 2 in various temperature and pore conditions, (2) the impact of OH-groups on diffusion in different pore widths, (3) the influence of competitive diffusion of NH 3 and SO 2 . These fundamental researches have provided guidance on the rational design of SCR catalysts for high deNOx activity and low SO 2 oxidation.


Subclinical hypothyroidism has been accused for coronary heart disease, lipid metabolism disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders, infertility or pregnancy related problems with various strength of evidence. Currently there is insufficient knowledge about olfaction and taste functions in subclinical hypothyroidism. Aim of the present study is to investigate the degree of smell and taste dysfunction in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism. 28 subclinical hypothyroid patients, and 31 controls enrolled in the prospective study in Istanbul, Turkey. Subclinical hypothyroid patients were treated with L-thyroxine for 3 months. Psychophysiological olfactory testing was performed using odor dispensers similar to felt-tip pens ("Sniffin' Sticks", Burghart, Wedel, Germany). Taste function tests were made using "Taste Strips" (Burghart, Wedel, Germany) which are basically tastant adsorbed filter paper strip. Patients scored lower on psychophysical olfactory tests than controls (odor thresholds:8.1±1.0 vs 8.9±1.1, p = 0.007; odor discrimination:12.4±1.3 vs 13.1±0.9, p = 0.016; odor identification:13.1±0.9 vs 14.0±1.1, p = 0.001; TDI score: 33.8±2.4 vs 36.9±2.1, p = 0.001). In contrast, results from psychophysical gustatory tests showed only a decreased score for "bitter" in patients, but not for other tastes (5.9±1.8 vs 6.6±1.0, p = 0.045). Three month after onset of treatment olfactory test scores already indicated improvement (odor thresholds:8.1±1.0 vs 8.6±0.6, p<0.001; odor discrimination:12.4±1.31 vs 12.9±0.8, p = 0.011; odor identification:13.1±0.9 vs 13.9±0.8, p<0.001; TDI scores:33.8±2.4 vs 35.5±1.7, p<0.001) respectively. Taste functions did not differ between groups for sweet, salty and, sour tastes but bitter taste was improved after 3 months of thyroxin substitution (patients:5.9±1.8 vs 6.6±1.2, p = 0.045). Correlation of changes in smell and taste, with thyroid function test were also evaluated. TSH, fT4 were found have no correlation with smell and taste changes with treatment. However bitter taste found positively correlated with T3 with treatment(r: 0.445, p: 0.018). Subclinical hypothyroid patients exhibited a significantly decreased olfactory sensitivity; in addition, bitter taste was significantly affected. Most importantly, these deficits can be remedied on average within 3 months with adequate treatment.


Blood has been literally, flowing in the streets of Abuja, Kano, Bauchi, Kaduna, Suleja and Maiduguri. Lives have been lost and property worth millions, destroyed. Apparently, there is no end in sight for this ugly development. No Nigerian is insulated from bomb explosion. Churches, mosques and corporate offices are not spared. In Lagos former Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Alani Akinrinade, urged the government to find a solution, warning that Nigeria was about being assailed by urban guerilla. Across the country, the fear of Boko Haram sect has become the beginning of wisdom. The violence unleashed by Boko Haram has been perfectly complemented by armed robbery and ritual killings across the six geo political zones. Ethnic clashes and kidnapping are also rife. In Jos, capital of Plateau State, mass burial of victims of ethnic conflict led to more blood letting on the spot. Now members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) are rejecting postings to troubled spots with justification. On daily basis, there are cries of dependency and government appears to be helpless. Can the federal government restore security? What is responsible for all the sporadic bombings? Why has the North central and North East remained a troubled spot? These are puzzles that seem to have no answers. Just recently, governors were at a crossroads. Although, it is the north that is primarily under siege, southern governors could not turn their eyes away from the plight of their kinsmen who reside in these troubled spots. The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGE) proposed some measures. Taking a global look at the socio economic and political realities that may underlie insecurity, it suggested a sort of 'Marshal Plan' to tackle the trend. Some governors, lawmakers and opinion leaders also reiterated their clamour for state police. They highlighted the numerous assistance given to state police commands by governors, including donation of vehicles, uniforms, housing, guns, and even, bullets. He said it is illogical that the state governors, who are chief security officers, have no control over the police. Many reasons have been adduced for the state of insecurity ravaging the country. Some of them paled into conjunctures. But there is no evidence that government has got any lead as well. There is a monotony of assurances of normalcy from the Police Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammad Abubakar and Security Chiefs. To their consternation, the suicide bombers seem to have dwarfed security agents. This paper seeks to explore the limitations of state police as a panacea for insecurity challenges facing centralizing policing in Nigeria. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n15p130


The aim of the present study is to analyse the contents of National Digital Library. The objectives of the study were to find out the various languages covered, coverage of different subjects in National Digital Library. The study also tried out to find out organizations that have created their institutional repositories and provided links on National Digital Library. NDL is a one stop for all digital resources. The user according to his educational level can choose the learning material. The searches can be refined by choosing different options like type of learning resource, educational degree, file formats, languages etc.


This paper introduces a new approach to activity recognition using a novel sensor: the micro-vibrational sensor. The sensor is a miniaturized ball switch with a very high sensitivity which in some circumstances is as decisive as an accelerometer as to specific activities. The sensor is worn in parallel with an acceleration sensor in order to exactly determine its capabilities and the results are compared with other accelerometer-based activity recognition implementations. A substantially lower price, smaller device size, very competitive classification percentage possibilities and power consumption many times less than accelerometers make this sensor very attractive. This paper explores the properties of both sensors as context recognition tools and examines the vibration sensor as an advantageous replacement for the accelerometer in existing activity recognition applications in energy-conscious applications.


In 260 male white rats electron microscopically, cytochemically with biochemical estimation of proteolitic activity of gastric juice, it has been demonstrated that principle cells of the gastric glands, after injection of small doses of hydrocorticone, respond with a complex of adequate ultrastructural, cytochemical and functional changes directed to realization of the drugs stimulating effect. With increasing time of the experiment, or the doses, progressively developing distrophic processes, involving predominantly the protein-synthesizing apparatus and, to a less degree, the mitochondrial mechanism, are observed in the principle cells. This results in inhibition of the pepsinogene synthesis phase and in decreasing proteolytic activity of gastric juice. Reaction of the principle cells is independent on testosterone doses; the protein-synthesizing and mitochondrial (to a less degree) apparatuses develop; the pepsinogene extrusion phase is suppressed; it results in its deposition in cytoplasm and in decreasing proteolytic activity of gastric juice. When testosterone and hydrocortisone are injected simultaneously in small doses, the stimulating effect of hydrocortisone to the principle cells is abolished and at large doses it is sharply manifested and is not accompanied with destructive changes in the principle cells.


Cost and recyclability are among the primary factors on exploiting the engineering materials for their new applications. In this context, glass/pp-based sandwich panel has been studied experimentally and numerically with the aims of its potential applications in the automotive structures. The first part of this work presents the experimental results achieved for the load-carrying capacity of panels using three-point bend tests for its static flexural behaviour. Static behaviour is studied to compare the top-roller diameter effect on the flexural behaviour of the panels and shows a significant difference in the results. Impact behaviour of the panels is explored using three different types of impactor end-shapes that generate different levels of damage in the material with the same level of impact energy. The second part of this paper deals with the development of numerical models for the three-point bend and impact behaviour of the panels using a commercial finite element code of Abaqus. Strain energy-based homogenisation technique is employed to determine the equivalent orthotropic properties of complex circular honeycomb core material. The finite element models predict to a good level of the static and impact behaviour of the material when compared with the experiments.


With the emergence of hardware-assisted processor tracing, execution traces can be logged with lower runtime overhead and integrated into the core dump. In comparison with an ordinary core dump, such a new post-crash artifact provides software developers and security analysts with more clues to a program crash. However, existing works only rely on the resolved runtime information, which leads to the limitation in data flow recovery within long execution traces. In this work, we propose POMP++, an automated tool to facilitate the analysis of post-crash artifacts. More specifically, POMP++ introduces a reverse execution mechanism to construct the data flow that a program followed prior to its crash. Furthermore, POMP++ utilizes Value-set Analysis, which helps to verify memory alias relation, to improve the ability of data flow recovery. With the restored data flow, POMP++ then performs backward taint analysis and highlights program statements that actually contribute to the crash. We have implemented POMP++ for Linux system on x86-32 platform, and tested it against various crashes resulting from 31 distinct real-world security vulnerabilities. The evaluation shows that, our work can pinpoint the root causes in 29 cases, increase the number of recovered memory addresses by 12 percent and reduce the execution time by 60 percent compared with existing reverse execution. In short, POMP++ can accurately and efficiently pinpoint program statements that truly contribute to the crashes, making failure diagnosis significantly convenient.


Share transfer restrictions are typical elements of governance in non-listed firms where members, given the locked nature of investments, are in strong dependence upon each other's actions and contract for special share transfer clauses to ensure successful cooperation. First purchase rights, such as a right of first refusal and a right of first offer, and tag-along rights stipulate efficient investments by discouraging value-decreasing transfers of shares to third parties and reducing incentives for opportunistic renegotiation. Similar problems arising during the ordinary course of business are solved by different forms of put and call options, including their special buy/sellout modifications – Russian roulette clauses. The study of the best practices of contracting for share transfer restrictions in closely-held firms can help improving the practices of business organization.


Abstract We investigated whether the physical castes of the dimorphic ant Pheidole pallidula (Nylander) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), are involved in determining within-nest activities and how their social investment in everyday tasks is influenced by large changes in the colony's caste ratio. Although the large-headed majors are morphologically distinct from minors, they are similar in size, exhibit similar behavioral repertoires and carry out nearly the same tasks as minors. Changes, even large ones, in the colony's caste ratio have no significant effect on the repertoire size of either caste. Majors do not compensate for the depletion of minors by expanding their repertoire or increasing their activity level. Instead of being an idle stand-by caste as suggested for other Pheidole specie s, P. pallidula majors are nearly as totipotent as minors. Moreover, their performance rate of social behaviors is remarkably high and constant regardless of the colony caste ratio. Such high investment of the major caste helps the colony to keep social behaviors at a baseline even in colonies undergoing large demographic changes. Alternative schemes of social regulation in polymorphic ant species are discussed. A possible methodological bias accounting for between-species differences in the level of majors' specialization is described.


We study the problem of protecting privacy in the publication of location sequences. Consider a database of trajectories, corresponding to movements of people, captured by their transactions when they use credit or RFID debit cards. We show that, if such trajectories are published exactly (by only hiding the identities of persons that followed them), there is a high risk of privacy breach by adversaries who hold partial information about them (e.g., shop owners). In particular, we show that one can use partial trajectory knowledge as a quasi-identifier for the remaining locations in the sequence. We device a data suppression technique, which prevents this type of breach, while keeping the posted data as accurate as possible.


Abstract Tremendous amount of RNA sequencing data have been produced by large consortium projects such as TCGA and GTEx, creating new opportunities for data mining and deeper understanding of gene functions. While certain existing web servers are valuable and widely used, many expression analysis functions needed by experimental biologists are still not adequately addressed by these tools. We introduce GEPIA (Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis), a web-based tool to deliver fast and customizable functionalities based on TCGA and GTEx data. GEPIA provides key interactive and customizable functions including differential expression analysis, profiling plotting, correlation analysis, patient survival analysis, similar gene detection and dimensionality reduction analysis. The comprehensive expression analyses with simple clicking through GEPIA greatly facilitate data mining in wide research areas, scientific discussion and the therapeutic discovery process. GEPIA fills in the gap between cancer genomics big data and the delivery of integrated information to end users, thus helping unleash the value of the current data resources. GEPIA is available at http://gepia.cancer-pku.cn/.